The fundamental fact of existence is that this trust in God, this faith, is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living. It's our handle on what we can't see. The act of faith is what distinguished our ancestors, set them above the crowd. By faith, we see the world called into existence by God's word, what we see created by what we don't see. By an act of faith, Abel brought a better sacrifice to God than Cain. It was what he believed, not what he brought, that made the difference. That's what God noticed and approved as righteous. After all these centuries, that belief continues to catch our notice. By an act of faith, Enoch skipped death completely. "They looked all over and couldn't find him because God had taken him." We know on the basis of reliable testimony that before he was taken "he pleased God." Msg Heb 11: 1-5
Both Abel and Enoch lived and acted on what they heard from Adam and Eve, about God. Adam and Eve would have shared their intimate moments they had with God, as they conversed in the cool of the evening or even their spiritual interaction because only Adam was formed by God and Eve from Adam's bone and flesh. Pursuing after His Presence pleases Him, obeying His command pleases Him. It is what Abel and Enoch believed about God that was counted as righteous.
Both Adam and Eve would have recounted how God clothed them with animal skin which was the blood sacrifice required for sin atonement. Abel obediently did the same by providing a fat portion from the firstborn of his flock. God was not pleased with fig leaves or fruits of the soil as was evident with God's reaction to Adam, Eve and Cain's action.
But Enoch must have learnt well because his testimony was, he pleased God. Imagine skipping death completely!
Could we, if we pleased God the way Enoch did, skip death completely, in this current age?
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